Wibu-Systems AG announced today that CodeMeter, the world's most secure platform for license management and anti-piracy, will support Wind River’s VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS) in Q4 of 2010. This will allow VxWorks customers to take advantage of CodeMeter's proven and patented software licensing and protection system. Wind River's VxWorks is a leading RTOS for embedded systems used in industrial applications.

Wibu-Systems recently joined the Wind River Partner Validation Program, which is the foundation for this strategic partnership. The Partner Validation Program offers a pre-validated software and hardware ecosystem to help solve the increasingly important business issues of reducing time-to-market, achieving cost savings, and realizing successful project deployment.

Oliver Winzenried, CEO and founder of Wibu-Systems AG, said, "Wind River’s VxWorks customers will be able to better protect their know-how and prevent product piracy. An additional benefit is the increase of operational safety and the potential for new business models such as pay-per-use or feature-on-demand, an emerging trend we’re seeing in the industrial market segment.”

“The need to address cyber security and the protection of intellectual property are critically important in the industrial market segment, which increasingly depends on the continuous and reliable performance of large-scale computer networks,” said Jens Wiegand, vice president of industry solutions at Wind River. “Coupled with CodeMeter support, Wind River’s VxWorks customers can reduce loss of intellectual property and piracy in ever-increasing networked environments.”

Increasingly embedded applications such as control systems and specialized devices contain valuable intellectual property in software, which manufacturers need to protect from piracy and reverse engineering. The benefits of CodeMeter support for VxWorks include:

Protection of intellectual property from reverse engineering.

The use of illegal software copies is blocked and product piracy and plagiarism becomes more difficult.

In the embedded realm, new business models become possible, such as pay-per-use or feature-on-demand.

In addition to software, data – such as production data in textile and machine engineering or personal data when using medical devices – can be protected as well.

Increase in system security by ensuring the integrity of software ("anti-tampering").

Winzenried added, "The availability of CodeMeter on VxWorks extends the options for manufacturers immensely. We fully understand the physical requirements of hardware manufacturers: next to the familiar USB interface, the CodeMeter protection hardware is also available in SD-Card, CF-Card, and Micro-SD-Card form factors. Available as an option, the protection can be bound to the trusted protection module (TPM) or other special customer hardware."